Riise will do the business next week
A DISAPPOINTING end to what was a great performance on Tuesday means we have it all to do next week.
No-one can blame John Arne Riise for his aberration; he was just trying to clear the ball from a Chelsea player behind him, but it has been indicative of the Norwegian's season.
Let's get this straight from the start. Riise has been a fabulous player for us since signing nearly eight years ago, and has made a huge contribution to the team in his time here. He is well liked by supporters and you can be sure that he has the full backing of all Reds.
The best route for redemption (if it is needed) is to play his heart out next Wednesday.
With Fabio out until the end of the season, it's crucial that John Arne picks himself up and gets back to doing his job. This is where his team-mates can help, and it's been gratifying to see the skipper and Pepe make public declarations of support for Ginger.
The own goal sullied what I thought was an excellent performance from the lads, possibly our best against Chelsea in all our meetings since Rafa took over. They never had a sniff, and were reduced to long balls to Drogba, 35-yard shots and a few theatrics. Stevie still wasn't 100%, but Xabi and Javier bossed the midfield leaving little for the Chelsea players to build on.
It says a lot that many had Peter Cech as man of the match, and it's hard to disagree. His save from Gerrard near the end was top class, and he covered his goal brilliantly to deny Torres on at least two occasions when the Reds number nine was one on one with the keeper. More of this next week will be perfect, but it isn't going to be easy breaking down a team like Chelsea on their own ground.
The Reds have to score, of course, and though our record there is poor, you can bet that Rafa will do his homework in order to finally break his duck there. They have some great players who can turn a game, but this is a different Reds team to the ones that have capitulated too many times over the last couple of years.
I was incredibly proud to be a Liverpool supporter on Tuesday. The banners showing support for young Liam Ryan show what a great family we all are. With all the confusion and acrimony surrounding the board and management of the club recently, it was wonderful to see the support concentrating on supporting one of our own, and getting the lads through rather than protesting against Hicks and Gillett.
The Texan was there with his entourage of goons, faking enjoyment and showing the world what a hard faced fool he is.
If rumours are to be believed, it looks like the future of the club will be sorted before the summer break and you can guess what the supporters want to see. Is he the last person in the world to realise his position is untenable? Seems so...
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